Cracks appear in new freight corridor at Baddowal railway station

LUDHIANA: The newly constructed freight corridor for transportation of goods from Ludhiana to other cities through rail at Baddowal railway station got damaged at several places just a day after its inauguration. Commonly known as the goods shed, the 600-metre stretch was constructed by railway authorities at a cost of more than Rs80 lakh.

The more than 50-year-old goods shed of Ludhiana railway station was being shifted to Baddowal because of congestion and restriction on entry of heavy vehicles in the city. Cracks have appeared on the cemented section of the goods shed on its inaugural day when a heavy truck loaded with goods moved into it for loading and unloading just a day after its inauguration.

City-based transporters have raised strong concerns over the poor quality of material used in its construction, following which it got damaged on its very first day of use. Transporter Rajinder Gupta said: “Railways have completed the goods shed project after jumping several deadlines, and even then, they have not constructed it well, because cracks appeared, and the road leading to the goods shed also got damaged badly, which exposes their manner of executing projects.”

When The Times of India team visited the Baddowal goods shed, it came to light that patches had appeared on the platform where trucks stood to carry goods offloaded from trains, exposing the poor quality of material being used in its construction.

Although rail officials were repairing the damaged areas, claiming that some portion of the corridor was not cemented, as signal wires were passing beneath it. He said after they replace the signal system, they would get the corridor repaired. Meanwhile, sources in the railway department said as many as 12 freight trains were going to be unloaded at Baddowal every month, and to carry offloaded goods from freight trains, more than 150-200 trucks are required by various transporters and industrialists.”

Ludhiana railway station director Abhinav Singla said: “We will look into the matter and send a combined report to the higher authorities regarding its functioning, so that transporters do not face any difficulty while carrying their goods from the goods shed.”